NTK iBooks project

NTK launched its iBooks for iPad project in April 2012, in cooperation with the Teachers' Training College of Eger. This project allows for the first time in Hungary, to teach primary school students by a new teaching method based on tablet and interactive contents, designed specifically for that new device.

As part of the project, NTK will adapt almost the full grade 8 curriculum to iBooks format (12 subjects: grammar, literature, history, English, mathematics, biology, physics, chemistry, geography, IT, practice / technique, visual culture) by the end of October.

NTK’s iBooks use all the advantages and interactive tools offered by iBooks format. Books are enriched with enlargeable pictures, galleries, test questions (single and multiple choice, choose the correct image, label the image), 3D models (new version under development), videos, interactive table of contents and glossary. More information on iBooks features: http://www.apple.com/ibooks-author/gallery.html.

All 19 students of a grade 8 class of the training school of the College of Eger received an iPad with the above-mentioned curriculum. The project will measure the impact and the efficiency of this new learning method.

The project scope
During the project we will find the answers to the following questions using the methods mentioned below:

• 
  What are the benefits of tablets compared to laptops? (Tablets are considered the successor of laptops.)

  • What are the results in teaching different subjects?

  • How should teachers be prepared?

  • How is the knowledge and performance of pupils using a tablet changing, compared to pupils who are not using a tablet? How do results differ in different subjects?

  • How is the pupils’ attitude to a specific subject changing while using a tablet?

  • How is the pupils’ ICT competence and ability to using the network (internet) changing by using a tablet?

  • How is teachers’ attitude to ICT changing by using this device?

  • How has teachers’ ICT competence and efficiency changed by the end of the project?

  • How has teachers’ charges changed during the project?

  • What is the opinion of the teachers concerning the changes in pupils’ knowledge, thinking, reasoning, interest and orientation ability during the project?

Applied methods

• Questionnaire and attitude scale at the beginning and at the end of the project both for teachers and students.

• Parental questionnaire at the end of the project to measure parents’ experiences on pupils learning.

• Analysis of teachers’ lesson plans and their posts on the project’s online forum.

• Performance measuring of the concerned pupils and other pupils in the same grade.

• Lesson needed advanced (re)search on the internet for different subjects in the concerned and in a control class.

• Individual control of searching strategies and navigation by using data mining.

• Production of short videos in different subjects (2-3 lessons)

Development process
Although the content is based on NTK’s accredited textbooks, the development is made and financed by the College of Eger. NTK provides the PDF version of the books and the workbooks as well as the related images. The developers, in cooperation with the teachers of the College and its training school, develop the iBooks curriculum using all features of this revolutionary learning format (test questions, animations, videos, photo galleries).

Roadmap
As it is a pilot project, the developed content is not available in Apple’s AppStore. The decision on sales channels to be used and the price of the iBooks will be decided, by taking into consideration the results and the experiences of the pilot project, by the end of this academic year.

The following roadmap has been built for the development of grade 5-7 iBooks contents:

A demo version of Physics ibooks with two chapters (Electromagnetism and Optics) is now available on iBooks Store.

For more information please contact Miklós Tímár, project coordinator at NTK.  

About Nemzeti Tankönyvkiadó Zrt. (NTK)
NTK is the market leader on the local textbook publishing market in Hungary. NTK is the only publisher that provides learning systems for all ages in all types of schools, in all parts of the country. NTK produces textbooks as well as teacher handouts, workbooks, e-products and various other learning tools and services. NTK is part of the Strategic Business Unit Sanoma Learning.
www.ntk.hu